Domaine des Pothiers, which takes its name from the lieu-dit
in which it is situated,is
one of the oldest, but also one of the most dynamic and exciting domains
within the appellation. The Paires have been in Villemontais for over 300
years. The current incumbent, Georges, joined his father in 1974 and took
control of the family domaine in 1978. Georges and Denise’s son, Romain,
joined his parents in 2004 after completing his studies. In addition to
making wine, they also raise Limousin cattle.

They work a total of nine hectares of vines, and all but 30 ares
is owned by the family themselves. Whilst the majority of the vineyards
are planted to Gamay Saint-Romain, they do also have just less than one
hectare of Chardonnay and half a hectare of Pinot Gris will come into
production in 2009. Everything here is hand harvested, with all the
vineyards organic, in conversion.

In 2005 the Paires purchased what is probably the highest (with the
potential to be the most distinguished, or at the very least aesthetic
pleasing) vineyard in the entire appellation. Le Clos du Puy sits high up
on the hillside with amazing views down towards the plain and the Lac de
Loire, with the mountains of Beaujolais in the distance. It is a true clos
of 1.7 hectares enclosed, completely, by a high wall. The previous owner
started to re-establish vines here in 2000, but for the moment the rest of
the plot remains dormant. Le Puy itself is a hamlet of one or two houses,
but it is dominated by an old priory, now a smallholding with its own
chapel, that would have once claimed ownership of the clos.
It is a special place that deserves to make special wine. Let’s hope
that is the case in years to come.

Some 30 kilometres north of the Côtes Roannaise appellation in the
village of Saint-Nazaire-sous-Charlieu, situated on the opposite side of
the Loire, the Paire’s have taken on the challenge of re-establishing an
old parcel of Gamay. Planted before the last war, it had long been
abandoned. They have been producing this under the Vin de Pays d’Urfé
appellation since 2004, and are the only grower to be active here. Unlike
the Cote Roannaise, the soil on the right bank of the river is more
limestone and clay and offers a completely different profile to the Gamay
grown here.

WINE
OVERVIEW:

The original cellar on the domaine was in an ancient
domed farm building. This is still in use for the ageing of the wines in
barrel, and also accommodates a number of cement tanks, however a purpose
built cuverie was added in 1992.

The wines produced at Potherie are best described as traditional and
inventive. Only indigenous yeasts are employed and there is no evidence of
a thermovinification unit in the cellar. All the red wines undergo a
classic fermentation (without recourse to carbonic maceration) and élévage; bunches are destemmed and with regular pump-overs, the
length and regularity being determined by the specific cuvée. The wines
are then aged either in tank or cement, or in the case of ‘Le Clos du
Puy’, in barrel. The rosé has a brief ageing in fibre glass tanks
before being bottled early.

There are five different reds produced in the cellar. ‘Référence’ is
the starting point and generally receives a six day maceration followed by
five to eight months ageing in tank. They start bottling this cuvée in
the spring following the vintage and it is designed for immediate
drinking. The 2007 showed the weakness of the year, with some reductive
notes, but the 2008 in tank looked much better. ‘Cuvée Numero Six’ is
a wine that is made as naturally as possible, with no de-stemming, using
natural yeasts and without filtration at bottling. It comes from two
parcels of younger vines in Villemontais and has a ten day cuvasion in
tank. The resulting wine in 2008 is quite tannic and tight, but should
soften up with a little patience. The ‘Domaine des Pothiers’ from old
vines up to 80 years old, macerated for 12 days followed by an 11 months
aging in tank. ‘Le Clos du Puy’ comes from a parcel in the hamlet with
the same name and is aged for 11 months in two to five year old barrels
acquired from a grower in Côte Rôtie. My view is that the wood only
serves as a distraction, and I only hope that this lesson is learned
sooner rather than later. The last red is the ‘Saint-Nizaire’, a Vin
de Pays d’Urfé rouge, made from 70 year old Gamay, although the wine
shows much greater potential than its humble status suggests.

In terms of other wines, the ‘Fou de Chêne’ is an apt name for their
Vin de Pays Chardonnay that has plenty of oak, but is good and creamy in
that overtly commercial style, but retains some balancing acidity which
make it a worthy addition to their range. ‘Red Bulles’ (yes, the pun
is intended) is a sparking Gamay from the 2007 vintage, although given it
has to be sold as a Vin de Table, there is no year specified on the
bottle. It has 25g/l residual sugar and a laudable 8% alcohol. It is one
of four current releases within the region of wine produced in the style
(the other growers being Simon Hawkins, Stéphane Sérol and the Vials),
who are each trying to find a new angle in which to add value - and an
alternative market for their produce. Finally, there is a little Liquoreux
rosé produced under the ‘Emoi’ label, made from passerillage berries and sold as a Vin de Table.

All the wines produced here will be certified organic by 2010 vintage.

THE
WINES:

I have to say that I warmed to the Paire’s and the
infectious character of young Romain. They have some good ideas and are
showing signs of innovation without loosing sight of the main objective,
which is to produce delicious Côte Roannaise reds. The 2008 vintage
looked excellent in tank in January 2009 and I very much look forward to
tasting these wines in bottle at some point in the future.